Translation services are the solution that builds bridges of communication between businesses and their customers everywhere in global markets. Global minded brands rely on language translation services to connect with the hearts and minds of their audiences in every and each market they wish to target on our planet.
Language translation services are classified into various categories, including certified translation, spoken interpretation, and localization ─ with each category empowering businesses to convey their messages clearly and on a global scale.
One way to understand how translation services are vital to business growth is to ask about the consequences, or disasters, related to translation errors. To put it clearly, what if your business partner with an unprofessional translation company?
The answer is simple. Mistranslations wreak havoc on the reputation of businesses, get them to pay millions of dollars in damages, may put corporate execs in jail ─ and, at certain points, lead to fights between nations. It happened at the best of companies, and look at history!
Yet, before anyone panics, we’ve got to ask: Is there a way to prevent these catastrophes? Yes, there is. Simply, your business should partner with a professional translation agency.
Why are Translation Services important for Business?
Let’s have a look at the companies that have gone out of business since the advent of globalization.
They may be terrific companies that know (and they are right) that English is the most widely spoken language in the business arena. Great. Yet, we still don’t know if anyone has ever told them that English is spoken fluently by about 5% of Russians, 5% of Brazilians, and by less than 1% of the people of China? Have they been so thoughtless as to decide not to translate their business content into Chinese, Spanish or Russian?!
It is a big mistake, and while companies that had made it tasted the bitter flavor of failure, other smart firms are still telling us every day why translation services are vital to business. Let’s dive deeper into the reasons:
1-Improve Customer Communication
Without doubt, any global company must have communicated with current and prospective customers who speak multiple languages and have different cultural backgrounds. So what? How do these businesses convey their messages to their pool of customers in a clear way that ensures they’ll be making a purchase from the company, not from one of the competitors?
Here comes the role of your company’s reliable partner ─ your trustworthy translation agency. They will make it possible for you to run your business in a global manner. They will translate your broad diversity of online content into the languages your customers can understand while ensuring the message gets to the recipients accurately and effectively.
2- Establish Brand Leadership and Enhance Brand Visibility
What happens when prospects find that they’re unable to understand what you’re offering them on your website or other digital properties. A tough question isn’t it?!
The answer, however, is that they will not love (shall I say detest?) your brand, and will move on to see what your competitors are offering. It might happen that those competitors are offering engaging content in the language of these potential clients. So, what would happen? Honestly, you know the rest! ─ if I may quote the great rock band.
To put it another way, what happens if you partner with an expert translation agency? Simply, your prospective customers will feel comfortable not only with your content, not only with the products and services this content is about but also, and most importantly, with your business brand! The outcome? Your sales revenue will increase. Further, your customers will play the role of brand ambassadors who will be constantly recommending your products, your company, and your brand to other people.
Bit by bit, your company, your products, your services, and your brand will be the talk of the town (sorry the world!). This is leadership! Your business is thus being recognized, step by step, as the leader, or one of the leaders, in your specific sector or industry. Wow!
3-Enables Smooth Running of Global Business Operations
Smooth operations matter!
To do good business and thrive in your target markets, you need to work smoothly with a wide array of stakeholders, including, but not limited to, customers, government, shareholders, employees, and many others.
Governments, municipalities, and regulatory bodies often demand that your business should comply with their legal requirements. Has anyone mentioned legal translation? Shareholders usually need to read your financial statements and relevant documents. Did anybody mention financial translation? Also, your workforces in Africa, Asia, Europe, and everywhere around the world definitely need to communicate with you.
When all is said and done, language translation services make it possible for all parties to communicate effectively. This smooth running of operations is essential for the business growth of your company.
Industries That Need Translation Services
According to Digitalist Magazine, The annual enterprise spending of businesses on translation services is anticipated to hit USD 45 billion by 2020, thanks to “increasing globalization and an increasing amount of text being generated worldwide”. So, which industries require translation services?
The right answer would probably be all industries that “think local and act global”! Language translation services, no doubt, were, are, and will continue to help global-minded companies across the globe to communicate successfully with all stakeholders ─ prospects, customers, shareholders, employees, government representatives, regulatory bodies, and many more. However, we may touch on some industries that get the most out of translation services. Let’s have a look.
Software Development
From online gaming to cryptocurrencies and millions of apps, software developers are top on the list of industries that need language translation services so they can extend their footprint to new users in new markets all over the world.
To break into overseas markets, software and app developers have to localize their products in terms of language, colors, images, and all other factors that ensure the software product or app will be accepted by the new audiences.
Marketing and Advertising
Let’s start with market research, the marketing branch that has been growing speedily over the past few years in response to the increasing number of global-minded companies that are attempting to listen to the voice of their global prospects. Market research businesses are resorting to language translation services so that they can communicate effectively with customers in specific markets. Overall, market research businesses now understand that it’s a must for them to have access to language translation services if they wish to run a focus group or conduct a market survey.
As for the other activities of marketing, such as public relations and advertising, let’s put it outright. You can’t run a global marketing, advertising, or PR campaign unless you partner with a translation agency that will not only translate but will professionally localize your corporate and marketing messages in a way that takes your audiences’ cultures ─ colors, images, style, quips, jokes, idioms, etc. ─ into consideration. You need to choose the translation company that has the required expertise to communicate your brand messages to your audiences effectively and accurately.
Ecommerce, Consumer, and Retail
Online competition is increasingly becoming more and more cut-throat. No business can sell, let alone promote, their products and services unless they find a way to stand out. Yet, to be noticeable to your overseas customers, you need first to speak to them in their mother tongue ─ whether on your website or your social media accounts, or elsewhere in the digital space. If you don’t, forget about any growth for your company. Therefore, translating and localizing your online content is the first step to communicating and then accommodating your target audiences all over the world.
Medical and Pharma
In a global industry like Healthcare, Medical, and Pharma, it’s a must for companies to translate every piece of content ─ patient notes, dosage instructions, medicines, and others.
Moreover, in countries where people speak different languages, healthcare and pharma businesses have to outsource interpreting services for their conferences, interviews, and business meetings.
Legal
All over the world, legal companies need a wide diversity of legal translation services for such important things as court hearings, video interviews, contract translations, witness statements, and many more.
The Translation Services Process
At AfroLingo, your content will go through a rigorous process, comprising the following stages:
First – Evaluation: Our staff starts with evaluating your project based upon a number of criteria, including the project’s subject matter, the target language, the target audience, budget, and the required turnaround time.
Second – Glossary Development: The translation team then embarks upon creating a glossary to ensure consistency of terminology all across the project’s content.
Third – Preliminary Translation: The source text is then translated by industry-specific, expert linguists who are native speakers of the target language, each with extensive, rock-solid experience in the specific translation field.
Fourth – Quality Assurance: After completing the initial translation, the translated content is then edited and proofread for grammar correctness, syntactic accuracy, and style appropriateness.
Fifth – Client Approval: The translated draft is sent to the customer for feedback and approval.
Sixth – Layout: After the client’s comments have been implemented, and the client’s approval has been secured, the translated content is formatted by a desktop publishing expert who ensures the material matches the layout of the source document.
Seventh – Delivery: The translated and formatted document is submitted to the customer.
Types of Translation Services
Translation services are a vast, varied, and wide-ranging industry, with various translation types. Let’s dive deeper.
1-Business Translation
In this area, translators should have full knowledge of the business terminology as well as the commercial or industrial sector to which the company belongs.
This category comprises a diversity of documents, such as Contracts, Articles of incorporation, Terms of service, Memos, Company accounts, Employee agreements, Business correspondence, Shareholder agreements, Annual reports, Non-disclosure agreements, and many more.
2-Medical Translation
The fields of medicine, healthcare, and pharma are ultra-sensitive, highly regulated, and extremely global. It’s a must for each company working in these industries to partner with a translation services provider that has the required industry experience and subject matter expertise. Why is it a must?
Simply because this translation agency will be translating all medical materials that are patient-related ─ software, instructions, labels, etc. ─ as well as all content that is product-related, such as quality management certificates, clinical trial paperwork, research papers, medical reports, and many others. Should this content be translated by any amateurish agency or by professionals only?
3-Technical Translation
Not any translation services provider can do it. Documents like instructions leaflets and user manuals can be translated only by a translation agency whose translators have extensive, hands-on experience in translating technical content. Further, translators often specialize in one or two technical fields, such as electronics, IT, engineering, apps, hardware, etc. The age of jack of all trades is gone with the wind!
4-Scientific Translation
You can consider it a sub-branch of technical translation, as it’s the area of translation that deals with documents in the area of science, including surveys, scientific theses, reports, papers, articles, conference booklets, presentations, etc.
5-Legal Translation
This branch of translation services is very sensitive, as it covers a broad array of legal, juridical, and judicial documents ─ from minutes of proceedings to registration certificates, remittance drafts, summons & warrants, corporate statutes, minutes of interrogation sessions, letters rogatory, judgments, and expert opinions.
Other types of documents in this area include internal regulations, decrees, bail assurance, general sales, and purchase conditions, as well as labor, license, and commercial contracts.
6-Financial Translation
This field of translation handles such documents as Insurance Documents, Balance Sheets, Cash Flow Statements, Business Plans, Financial Contracts, Annual reports, Private and Public Offerings, Prospectuses, Income statements, Financial Reporting Guidelines, Tax Reports, Auditor’s Reports, and many others.
7-Literary Translation
Maybe this is the most difficult of all types of translation. It needs a translator who blends art with talent with the translation expertise in an attempt to render the semantic content of the original.
The Formats We Support
At AfroLingo, we support all file formats ─ from XLIFF to XML, HTML, txt, csv, odt, ott, ots, odg, otg, odp, otp, docx, dotx, xslx, xlts, pptx, potx, doc, ppt, xls, pdf, dot, mlf, idml and many more.
As for software, we support such file formats as NET, Java, po, pot, properties, ts, dklang, dtd, json, yml, resw, resjson, rc, ini, Adobe and many more.
When it comes to graphics, the file formats we support include jpg, jpeg, png, gif, bmp, eps, tiff, psd.
Why AfroLingo?
Let’s be clear and straightforward. We stand out because we were, are, and will always be a customer-oriented translation agency. Our clients are the major reason we do our job. As for why they choose us, they usually cite many reasons.
Quality. Yes, we work on a broad diversity of projects, ranging from medical to legal, financial, and marketing. Yet, our main focus is quality. That’s why we only work with industry-specific and subject matter-specific translators. Further, at AfroLingo, your content is translated, then proofread, then edited, then finally reviewed by linguists and specialists with higher levels of expertise and experience so they can deliver the highest excellence on every level.
Competitive Pricing. At AfroLingo, we don’t know anything called flat rates. We deal with every project individually, giving you a quote based upon your specific needs and your particular budget. Furthermore, you’ll not pay for any services you didn’t need.
More importantly, we deliver a seamless, integrated language solution that involves everything from translation to localization, desktop publishing, and transcription. You won’t need to go anywhere else!
As for the languages we support, we cover almost all African languages in addition to major global languages.
Also, from the outset, you’ll be dealing with a translation company that understands that time is money, and, hence, will establish a deadline that works. Therefore, our professional translators and project managers are available 24/7.
Last but not least, your data is in good hands. AfroLingo follows the most rigorous standards of information confidentiality.
Frequently Asked Questions on Translation Services
To make things easier for you, we’ve collected the questions that the clients and prospects usually ask. Let’s have a look.
How long will it take you to finalize my translation?
This depends on the length of the source text. Generally, each one of our expert translation teams can translate around 1,500 words per day. When it comes to technical documents, it might take longer. As for urgent projects, we usually handle them by dividing the project between several linguists or by resorting to “out of hours” working.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept almost all secure methods from bank transfer to PayPal or other methods.
Do you provide DTP services and which file formats do you accept?
We pride ourselves on our first-class desktop services, and we accept all file formats.
Which languages do you support?
In general, we translate all South African languages, West African languages, East African languages, Middle Eastern, and other languages.
Do I have to provide a glossary?
It’d be great if you have a glossary, as it’s the best tool to ensure consistency all through your translated content.
What about the confidentiality of my data?
100% guaranteed. All our translators have already signed non-disclosure agreements. Besides, we’ll never transfer any of your data to a third party.
How can I get a quote?
Please fill out the form here
Do you have native speakers?
Your translation will be carried out by a native speaker of the target language. Further, the documents will be proofread by linguists who are and experts in the subject matter.
Which document types do you accept?
All types of files including PDFs, MS Office, HTML, XML, InDesign, FrameMaker and many other formats.
Do you offer interpretation services?
Yes, we offer second-to-none interpreting services
Do you have website translation services?
Yes, we translate and localize all kinds of websites in almost all major African and world languages.
How can I check the status of my project?
A project manager is usually assigned to handle your translation project from the very start. Further, communication with our clients and our customer support is available 24/7 for you to check everything.
When are your translation services available?
AfroLingo offers translation services round the clock, and 365 days per year.
